[SEO-Members] The Voice in the Hollow by Will Hillenbrand is 2025 Floyd’s Pick Book Award Winner

[marshams at library.ohio.gov]

[cid:image002.png at 01DB65C1.01C087D0]<https://library.ohio.gov/floyds-pick>The Voice in the Hollow by Will Hillenbrand is 2025 Floyd’s Pick Book Award Winner
Two Floyd’s Pick Honor Books also selected

The Voice in the Hollow<https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714383/the-voice-in-the-hollow-by-written-and-illlustrated-by-will-hillenbrand/> by Will Hillenbrand (Holiday House, 2023, ISBN 9780823436811) has been named the tenth annual Floyd’s Pick Book Award<https://library.ohio.gov/floyds-pick> winner, awarded by the Choose to Read Ohio (CTRO) Advisory Council in memory of children’s literature expert, advocate, and librarian Floyd Dickman.

The Floyd’s Pick Book Award is given annually to a book written by an Ohio author or illustrated by an Ohio illustrator that is representative of high-quality literature created for children. It aims to carry on the legacy of Floyd Dickman’s joyful work to support and share children’s literature.

The CTRO Advisory Council has also selected two Floyd’s Pick Honor Books for 2025:

My Thoughts Have Wings<https://www.harpercollins.com/products/my-thoughts-have-wings-maggie-smith> by Maggie Smith, illustrated by Leanne Hatch (Balzer + Bray, 2024, ISBN 9780063214583)

The Yellow Bus<https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250903136/theyellowbus> by Loren Long (Roaring Brook Press, 2024, ISBN 9781250903136)

Floyd’s Pick Book Award winner The Voice in the Hollow is a spooky yet cozy story about a momentous walk home from the library. According to the publisher, “a young mouse’s shortcut home turns into a fantastical journey guided by a mysterious guardian in this wintery tale... Hidden in the terrain are scenes that evoke myths of the origins of Earth’s mysterious features and nature’s erratic behavior. In a stunning double gatefold, sleeping bears spring to life, setting off a landslide and sending Hubert and his guardian running.”

Will Hillenbrand has written and illustrated over 78 picture books that young readers love and cherish for their imaginative, heartwarming, and whimsical illustrations. He has served as the Author and Illustrator in Residence at Kent State University and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He loves visiting schools to enlighten his audience with ideas and spark their creative way of seeing and making. Will Hillenbrand grew up in Cincinnati and lives in the Cincinnati area.

Floyd’s Pick Honor Book My Thoughts Have Wings is an imaginative, affirming, and reassuring reflection on how, when lights go out at bedtime, thoughts can stay on. Author Maggie Smith lives in the Columbus area and is also the award-winning author of several books for adults.

Honor Book The Yellow Bus closely observes the multiple lives of a yellow school bus and the complex world around her. Uplifting and visually stunning, this book affirms that every situation is an opportunity for discovery and joy. Author and illustrator Loren Long lives in the Cincinnati area and is a three-time Floyd’s Pick author: Little Tree won the inaugural Floyd’s Pick Book Award in 2016, and Change Sings was a Floyd’s Pick Honor Book in 2022.

Floyd Dickman was a Library Consultant at the State Library of Ohio and a tireless advocate for children’s literature and librarianship. He had an enduring impact on library and literacy services in Ohio and across the country. During his career, Floyd was awarded the Ohio Library Council Librarian of the Year award and was named Outstanding Friend by the Ohio Family Literacy Task Force. Upon Floyd’s retirement in 1999, the State Library of Ohio Board’s retirement resolution recognized his leadership, commitment, and passion for library services, children’s literature, and family literacy. Floyd is also remembered as a dedicated mentor to librarians and library science students. He remained an active teacher, advisor, and champion for many years after retirement. Floyd Dickman passed away in June 2015.

The CTRO Advisory Council established Floyd’s Pick in December 2015 with a proclamation by Beverly Cain, then State Librarian of Ohio. Ohio author and illustrator Loren Long, winner of the first Floyd’s Pick Book Award for Little Tree and honoree in 2022 and 2025, graciously provided the Floyd’s Pick Book Award artwork. Learn more about Floyd’s Pick and past winners and honor books: library.ohio.gov/Floyds-pick<https://library.ohio.gov/libraries/library-programs-and-development/ctro/floyds-pick-book-award>

CTRO spotlights Ohio authors and illustrators and promotes reading across Ohio. Started in 2009 by the State Library of Ohio and the Ohioana Library with the Ohio Center for the Book and Ohio’s libraries, CTRO celebrates the bounty and diversity of Ohio literature and invites Ohioans of all ages to read and enjoy books together. Each CTRO booklist features twenty representative titles for all ages, selected with the input of dozens of Ohio librarians, educators, and others invested in readers and reading.




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Marsha McDevitt-Stredney
Director, Marketing & Communications
State Library of Ohio
274 E. 1st Avenue
Columbus, OH 43201
Tel: 614.644.6875
marshams at library.ohio.gov<mailto:marshams at library.ohio.gov>
library.ohio.gov<https://library.ohio.gov/>

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